The life and crimes of a Korean rescue puppy

Tag Archives: Korea

Saturday I went to visit my friends Boots who is spending a month in a training academy while his human is away on vacation. My human went without me last week, but this week I got to go too! It was so much fun to play on the agility equipment!

Boots and I had a great time playing together, and the trainer says Boots is doing really well. This training centre is really close to Toegyewon station (pronounced Tay-gay-won) just tell the taxi driver to keep going straight and then once you go over a very tiny bridge the centre is on your left. It’s very easy to spot from the road and it only costs us $9 in a taxi to get there.

The trainers are very friendly but have limited English, so if you want to send a dog there it is recommended that you have a co-worker fill out the form. You can learn more about the training school here

I get to eat a wide variety of foods, because I’m cute and I know how to work the “begging face” but there are some things that humans need to remember when feeding us pups human foods…. we aren’t human. My human researches before she shares any new food with me, and recently we were shown this handy picture- so of course we had to share it.

Now there are things not listed that are dangerous. Such as Coffee and Chocolate. Also did you know that dogs are mostly lactose intolerant? Which is a shame because we LOVE cheese. I get a very small piece of cheese on special occasions (or if the human is cooking jacket potato- then I get 3-5 strands of grated cheese, not a lot but totally yummy and worth a lot of tricks)

Remember to use all opportunities for cuteness and your reward will come after the human has taken a photo and told you how pretty you are. See this ^ “kiss” shot with my new foster brother Kyo? Yeah I got a bone afterwards for playing so nicely.

Do you have any tricks for getting your human to feed you? What about some special tricks you do for food? I was in a corner shop the other day (the shop owner loves me and welcomes my presence) when the human noticed some watermelon. She picked it up to look at the price and I began to dance in excited circles. When she saw how cute I was, she had no choice but to buy the tasty snack. Cuteness: 1000000 Human: 0

It’s really hot here in Korea. Like fry-an-egg-on-the-pavement (sidewalk for the Americans) hot. Our walks are limited to super early in the morning before the pavement heats up, or late at night when it has had a chance to cool off. The rest of the day I stay inside, but we can’t run our aircon 24:7 and no it’s not because of fan death (according to Koreans, you can die from using your fan too much)

So we have to find alternative ways to keep cool. Here is my list of things you can make your human do for you to keep you cool during the last, overwhelmingly hot month of Korean summer.

1. Eat Watermelon~ Yep, you heard me. Make your human buy some delicious watermelon for the two of you to share. But don’t eat too much or you’ll regret it on your bathroom breaks.

2. Make your Human freeze you some ice to lick. It will keep your drinking water cool all day. The human can even use stock cubes to add delicious flavours to your ice. If your human does it in an ice-cube tray, they can be added to your drinking water. But what my human usually does it reuse pint-sized cardboard milk cartons. Once it has frozen she can peel off the carton and I have a block of ice to lick. Unfortunately she has no photos of this because she is stupid and doesn’t plan ahead so here is a photo from the internet of stock flavoured cubes.

3. This may sound counter-productive, but try closing the window and pulling down the blinds. If you run the aircon for an hour before your human leave then the apartment stays cooler because your blind is keeping the heat from the sun out. (We have to close the blind too or the foster Kyo goes behind the blind and then forgets how to get back off of the window sill)

4. When your human is not at work, have them set up a paddling pool. We use an old bottom of a cat litter tray (thoroughly cleaned first, thank you) Now, I haven’t actually used this one. But I like the effort my human goes through in filling it up for me.

5. If, like me, you mostly eat dry food- consider adding more wet food during the summer as it will help you to stay hydrated. You can also mix half wet and half dry together in your bowl and leave it in the fridge for a while for a nice cooling meal.

So those are my summer tips, yes I realise summer is almost over-but you wouldn’t know it from the Korean weather. 32 degrees today- that’s just my room temperature. Do you have any tips or tricks on staying cool in the summer? Let us know in the comments 🙂

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post~ I have so much to tell you but my human has been hogging the computer. We have a new foster kitten, we named him Kyo after the manga/anime character from “Fruits Basket”

Here we are playing on the roof together! Kyo is a pretty awesome kitty. He is 100% litter trained, UTD on vaccines AND good with dogs, cats, strangers and children! Plus he is leash trained!

Well, actually. . . He isn’t that great at walks. He rides on the humans shoulders up to the roof because he doesn’t like the flooring and he used to be scared of the concrete floor of the roof too. He LOVES the grass though and he is getting better about walking.

Doesn’t he look cute? He lets the human trim his claws and clean his ears no problem~ which makes me look bad >.< he also likes to sit on one of her hands and wash it while she pets him with the other hand~ leaving no loving for me!

I don’t mind too much because we have a lot of fun playing together and he shares his toys with me. But I’m sure he would like a human of his own.

That’s all for now but you can check out our youtube channel for some videos of Kyo and I, playing and walking together ^^

p.s. Emma one of our previous fosters has found her fur-ever home, yay! That means we have officially fostered and rehomed: 1 dog (Choco is in foster care elsewhere but she still needs her fur-ever family), 5 puppies, and 2 kittens! Can’t wait for Kyo to join the ranks of the adopted!

A few months ago I posted about my friend Emma who is still in foster care even though it has been a year since we rescued her from KARMA.

This weekend her foster home had visitors who are allergic to dogs so Emma came to stay with us. Now, I’m a pretty lazy/laid back dog but Emma takes it to a whole new level. The moment you put her on something (a bed, the floor, your lap) she curls up, no pacing or turning required. It’s like her legs give out the second they come into contact with the surface. She pretty much spent the entire weekend at the foot of the humans bed.

The Human says she is a better leash-walker than I am because Emma doesn’t pull. Whatever, I could not pull if I wanted to.

The problem is Emma’s foster mum is leaving Korea in August, which means we have 2 months to find her a new forever home. So if you know anyone who wants a seriously low-energy dog, let me know here or contact us through Emma’s ARK profile.

Also the human was going through her computer and found lots of photos of Emma and her pups from when we first rescued them so here is the Happy Ending: ALL of Emma’s pups are in forever homes and experiencing real love in their family.

Jack and his adoptive sister Nala

Logan (now Jack) relaxing in his forever home

Molly’s adoptive family

Emma getting some attention while receiving treatment for Distemper

Emma and the pups after coming back from Karama getting a potty break before seeing their new home

Emma feeding her greedy little pups

Krypto and George posing. These two went on to be adopted by two Korean women.

Not yet, just getting prepared. It’s been a long journey to get prepared to fly to where my human is from. She promises that I will have fun so long as I don’t bother the cat (which I find a very offensive statement- I love cats!) but the why’s of us leaving will wait for another time. For now let’s concentrate on the how.

England is a tiny island, practically on the other side of the world to Korea. It took the human 10 hours to get here on a non-stop flight. Sounds fun right? Because it’s an island they have pretty strict rules about what humans can bring with them. Here’s where it got expensive.

Here’s the process (Please follow this timeline and get prepared early or you will have issues!!)

First I had to have a microchip implanted (OUCH btw) that was ISO compatible. That means it can be read in England as well as Korea. After this you have your rabies vaccine. With me so far? Basically lots of needles and pain for you (the puppy).

Now one month after your vaccine go back and have your blood tested. Make sure you specify why you want it tested. I really recommend speaking to Sohee at Chung Hwa Animal Clinic in Itaewon- she has helped many furry friends make their way home. This is important because without the blood test proving you don’t have rabies you will be in QUARANTINE!! The blood test takes 3 months and costs $300 (yes I know, an English doggy talking in terms of dollars-well its what all the companies we used gave us their prices in, so deal with it) One good thing though is that this blood test lasts a while. So long as you have an annual rabies vaccine (and keep the proof of this to show it was always done BEFORE the anniversary of your blood test you will still be able to fly that year. Note: if you have the blood test done five years before flying you will need the vaccine every year after the first time and always a week or so earlier than previously administered to be on the safe side.

After your 3 month wait for your results you are then able to fly into England YAY-but wait there’s more…

UPDATE ** 10 days before flying you will need a Vet to complete an Annex 2 form Health Certificate. 24 Hours before flying you will also need to deworm your dog (specifically tapeworms)

Did you know that dogs cannot fly on a passenger plane into England, not even in the baggage? That’s right you have to pay to fly on a cargo plane- and essentially you will be posted to England. It’s kind of expensive ($2000). But wait there’s more!

You will also need to purchase a special crate to fly in, that’s taller than you when you stand up in it (That means your ears can’t touch it) and wide enough that you can turn around- there are other requirements too, but if you speak to Sohee she will help you with all that.

One more thing. If you fly into Heathrow (which you will be) you have to pay an additional £400 or so (I forgot the exact amount) on arrival. Starting to think about staying in Korea? Well never fear- we found a cheaper alternative.

You still need to get your microchip, vaccine and blood test as listed above!! There is no way around this!!

However we will be flying into France, we will stay the night and then my human’s family will drive over on the ferry and take us home with them. Because by being IN a car ON the ferry you don’t have to pay that pesky airport arrival fee.

But wait, there’s more! We are also choosing to fly Aeroflot because they allow dogs to fly in cabin to france on the condition that the dog and carrier weighs less than 8kg total. (In my carrier I weigh 6.3kg)

There’s still more! I don’t need to buy myself a clunky new crate because I can travel in my normal fabric one!

Last thing- my ticket is no longer $2000, in fact I will be charged as excess baggage at the grand sum of ….. $50!!!

UPDATE ** 10 days before flying you will need a Vet to complete an Annex 2 form Health Certificate, As we are flying into France we need one for France and a SECOND form for England. 24 Hours before flying you will also need to deworm your dog (specifically tapeworms)

What a bargain! England here we come!

If you use this as a guide to get to England, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE double check every step of the way. We would hate to be responsible for you not making it. I will be going to Incheon Airport to speak to a Aeroflot consultant, we will show the consultant my bag and allow them to weigh me to double check BEFORE we purchase our ticket.

We aren’t flying until next year but we are getting ready early. I will update if I find out anything more.

Special thanks to Christina (my humans friend that visited us) for providing the DEFRA link above, and to Sohee from Itaewon’s Chung Hwa Animal Clinic and to Jerry at the Pet Travel Store for your advice.

Just a quick post today~ to let you know my friend Emma was spayed and is ready for adoption! Yay

Emma and her 5 puppies were rescued by my human back in the summer. They were all discovered to have distemper and Emma was dangerously malnourished from supporting the puppies. Fortunately with some help from our amazing Animal Rescue friends and my super awesome Vet they all made a full recovery. ^^

All of Emma’s puppies were adopted pretty quickly and are all living amazing lives with their new families~

but Emma is still waiting. She has a pretty amazing foster family, but I’m sure she would love a family of her own. If you are interested in adopting Emma please check out her profile here